Problems concerning the player. Problems concerning the gods.
The matters that weighed on Takuto's mind were endless. On top of that, he had to conduct the usual business of running a nation.
It was said that for a game, a surefire way to keep players from getting bored was to cram in events, but Takuto felt a bit exasperated by the situation, thinking there was no need to follow the game so strictly even in that regard.
Knock, knock. The door was rapped, and Atou's voice was heard.
It seemed the refreshments for a break were ready.
He considered moistening his throat and clearing his mind, when his gaze fell upon another person entering alongside Atou.
"We've kept you waiting, Lord Takuto."
"My King, I will also be joining you."
"Oh, Emru's here too. Welcome."
The one who had come with Atou, carrying a tray with drinks, was Emru, the Dark Elf interior minister.
For Takuto, anyone was welcome, but he recalled that today was Emru's day off, and wondered, "Oh?" in puzzlement.
The answer came almost immediately.
"I thought it might not be good to overwork your thoughts too much, so I prepared some sweets along with your break. Emru happened to be enjoying herself in the kitchen, so I brought her along."
"S-sorry, I just couldn't help it..."
"Haha, the more people, the livelier it is. Well then, since the opportunity has arisen, why don't we take our break in the conference room?"
Looking closer, the tray Emru held was loaded with a generous amount of homemade sweets.
It seemed she had been indulging her hobby in the palace's spacious kitchen, which was rarely used.
Takuto was impressed by the unexpected use of the kitchen by someone other than himself. He briefly considered whether he should try cooking or some other pastime to clear his head, but first he took a sip of the prepared coffee.
………
……
When the brain is pushed hard, cravings for something sweet follow.
The tea sweets that Atou and Emuru had prepared spread through Takuto's entire body just as those words suggested, providing a surge of something like vitality alongside the rise in blood sugar.
Takuto, who understood his body's condition well, felt a kind of astonishment at the fact that he still possessed the same physiological responses as an ordinary human—one from his previous life, no less—while simultaneously letting his thoughts drift toward the boosts granted by the nameless dark god hero and Ira's faithful.
Was he human, or was he not?
He had no particular attachment to maintaining the status of being human, so long as no complications arose. But conversely, complications were precisely what made such a distinction problematic.
Takuto resolved that he would need to investigate his own condition at an appropriate time, and felt the familiar weight of yet another task added to the pile.
"Come to think of it, the King and Atou have been together since this morning—what sort of duties were you handling?"
Just as Takuto drained the prepared coffee and exhaled with a quiet breath, Emuru steered the conversation in search of a topic, bringing up the question as if grasping at something.
It was an excellent lead-in, but because the matter Atou had consulted him on was somewhat unusual, Takuto momentarily faltered on how to explain.
"Ah…"
"Oh! M-maybe it was something I shouldn't have asked about!? I-I'm so sorry! How careless of me!"
"No—no, that's not it at all! What kind of misunderstanding is that? Stop jumping to strange conclusions, Emuru!"
Whether through some misreading of Takuto's hesitation, Emuru suddenly flushed red and began apologizing profusely.
Whether through some reaction to her attitude, Atou's face reddened as well, and she hastily denied any impropriety.
"No, we were consulting about the proposal from the Succubus the other day. Since it involves the Divine Kingdom as well, we'd have preferred to discuss it between the two of us, if possible."
Contrary to the two of them entertaining peculiar misunderstandings, only Takuto remained composed as he explained the matter at hand.
With the policy of involving Dark Elves in national governance now in place, it was precisely the sort of situation where he and Atou making decisions alone behind closed doors was best avoided.
Someone like Emuru might entertain innocent misunderstandings, but if word reached Mortar or Gear and bred unease or resentment, that would be a serious problem.
That was precisely why Takuto had subtly implied, through deliberate exception, that this particular matter was something the Dark Elves had no room to involve themselves in.
When it came to matters concerning the players, such obfuscation had become customary for Takuto.
"I see. Oh my, what kind of imagination did I just... I am truly sorry! You're right, the idea of the King and Atou being alone together for such a... what indecent thoughts I had!"
"D-don't worry about it."
Even so, it was clear from Emuru's reaction that Takuto's concerns were unfounded.
Realizing her imagination was wrong, the young Dark Elf instead began to look even more flustered than before. Honestly, he was curious what she had imagined, but prying further would likely backfire, so it was best to pretend he'd seen and heard nothing.
Takuto felt inwardly relieved that Mortar and Gia were not present.
If those two, with their strong sense of loyalty, had been there, Emuru's earlier attitude would certainly have been reprimanded, and in the process, her rather inappropriate imagination would have been exposed to the light. That, in turn, would have been extremely embarrassing for Takuto, so he preferred to avoid it.
"A Succubus, though... A being from our legends. I never imagined one would appear in reality. And that immense phantom beyond mortal understanding... Could it be they came from the Kingdom of God, like you, my King?"
"Perhaps. The matters of the Kingdom of God include things you should not know. That's what I was consulting with Atou about."
"Ah, if that is the reason, then it is only natural. However, please know that we Dark Elves, within our power, strive to be of assistance to the King."
"Of course. Rest assured, I won't make decisions without consultation. I'm counting on everyone's strength."
"Or rather, Emuru. Without your dedication, Takuto and I would sleep not at all, metaphorically speaking, so working is inevitable."
"Even so, everyone's sleep time is already quite cut down..."
This seemed like a reasonable explanation. Takuto also had to feel his way through these matters. Ideally, he would like to share information, but sharing too much wasn't good either. As long as everyone understood the enemy was not to be underestimated, the current situation was acceptable.
He picked up one of the pastries Emuru had made—a baked sweet—and popped it into his mouth. The sweet taste and aroma filled his palate. It was made with generous amounts of high-quality butter, milk, and flour. Takuto, unfortunately, wasn't knowledgeable about such things and didn't know what he was eating, but since he'd previously passed along some modern recipe books from an emergency production run, it was likely one of those.
The sugar circulated through his body, and his mind slowly sharpened.
"Whew. Well, the matter of the conference is still a ways off anyway, so let's discuss it in detail with our Dark Elf friends moving forward. Oh, the formal meeting will be held later, but since Emuru has come all this way, maybe we should also review our current progress. Atou, Emuru. How does that sound?"
Break would end soon enough and they'd be back to meetings regardless.
In that case, even if it meant a somewhat casual air, there was nothing wrong with proceeding over drinks and sweets in hand.
He made the proposal with that sentiment in mind, and received favorable responses from both Atou and Emuru.
"Very well. Allow me to report on what has come in so far."
"It is a break after all. Shall we keep things light for conversation, Takuto?"
Though they would review the details with the elder Mortar and the Dark Elves later, a preliminary check was necessary. Especially since Takuto was still recovering from illness. In truth, his condition was fine, but the fact remained that he had been in a kind of coma-like state for a prolonged period.
To verify that his mind hadn't rusted shut, Takuto chose to have information gathered and summarized in advance, just to be safe.
"First, regarding the recent battle—the engagement with Quolia's forces in what has become a blank zone in the former Renea Sacred Light Nation. Following Vittorio's battle with the Saintess of the Diary, some manner of awakening manifested in the Saintess. The original plan to seize the southern provinces failed. However, the city of Selduchi, belonging to the border region with the Mainland, has been incorporated into our nation. We have taken control of the surrounding area, and it now serves as our front line against Quolia."
"Mm. That lines up with Vittorio's report and the information we've confirmed here. The movements of the Saintess of the Diary remain unclear, so caution is warranted, but it seems she's beyond anyone's control, so there are plenty of ways we could play that."
"From Quolia's perspective, they're likely busy trying to rebuild the collapsed Renea Sacred Light Nation region. It would seem safe to assume they lack the capacity to actively reach out toward us."
The recent incident—the Loquacious Hero Vittorio's covert machinations to seize the land left behind by the Renea Sacred Light Nation—had brought sweeping changes to the continent, Mynoghra included.
One of those changes was Mynoghra's acquisition of new territory.
The border region connecting to the Mainland, along with a portion of the Renea Sacred Light Nation's former domain.
These were invaluable gains that bolstered Mynoghra's national power, but they had simultaneously brought with them enormous problems.
"More to the point, I'm curious about the newly incorporated city... So, how is it?"
"Just as the king feared... it's quite the battlefield."
"I figured as much..."
That is the matter at hand.
It was simply a problem of having acquired a domain so vast that administrative capacity couldn't keep pace.
It meant having a painfully obvious fact rubbed in one's face once more, a headache-inducing worry despite the potential for joy.
"We are urgently proceeding with personnel training, but the pace of expansion outstrips it. I suspect our next council meeting will be dominated by pleas from this quarter."
"Even Dragontan is only now starting to settle down, and now this... At worst, our total population in Mynoghra might exceed theirs already."
(In the game, annexing a city would cause a few turns of urban chaos, but here it's kingdom-scale chaos...)
Gazing into the distance, he let his mind wander to past memories.
The endless lessons learned since arriving in this world about the gulf between game and reality—the ultimate, unforeseen culprit being paperwork warfare—was the most absurd of all.
Even if he possessed the advanced science and administrative systems of his previous world, this foe showed no sign of vanishing. The predictions that commercial AI would revolutionize human life upon reaching orbit seemed irrelevant; the eternal, unbreakable friendship between humanity and paperwork would surely endure.
"For now, palliative measures seem our only option. Fortunately, the residents of the Selduchi cities are followers of the Ira faith. They are obedient to Mynoghra, so we can slide the governance system from the Renia Holy Light Kingdom era into place and gradually adjust it over time. Using Vittorio in the process wouldn't be a bad idea either."
"You think he'll cooperate?"
"We'll make him cooperate. Even if we have to force him."
As a setting, Vittorio was supposed to be uncontrollable. But here, too, the gap between game and reality showed itself; he appeared to listen to their demands to a certain degree. Though only to a certain degree.
It was likely the recent rating had been effective; without it, even that limited compliance would have been impossible.
Despite that, Vittorio was outstanding in terms of ability. Especially concerning internal administration.
His skill set was entirely geared towards harassment of others, but conversely, these were skills possessed by those who excelled in intellect, so he was naturally quick-witted.
He hadn't ruled behind the Ira faith for nothing.
"His brains are top-notch, after all. If only he hadn't caused so much extra trouble... he could have been truly beneficial to Mynoghra."
"Well, that's also part of his charm."
Takuto offers a vague answer in response to Atou's complaint.
Looking at it another way, his words seem to be protecting Vittorio, causing Atou's brow to furrow.
Oh, this is a sign that Atou is about to get upset. He quickly realizes this, and just as he picks out a few phrases in his head that he thinks she'd like to hear...
Knock, knock. The door is rapped, announcing a visitor.
"Come in."
For a moment, Atou and Emuru exchange glances and nod.
Emuru rises from his chair and opens the sitting room door to reveal Elder Mortar standing there.
"I beg your pardon. Your Majesty, there is a matter requiring judgment that we find somewhat difficult, -- a certain traveler residing in Dragon Tan has requested an audience with you."
Elder Mortar's gaze sweeps over the table laid with dishes and half-eaten snacks, then fixes on Emuru for a brief, sharp moment.
While Takuto thinks, "I'll have to smooth this over for him later, poor guy," Atou asks for more details about the report.
"Normally, there would be no reason or necessity for the king to meet someone of unknown origin, but the fact that you've brought this matter to us yourself means that isn't the case, is it, Elder Mortar?"
As the king of Mynoghra, various people seek audiences with him day and night.
Not a few are arrogant enough to try and make deals with evil existences, forgetting their own station. Merchants, mercenaries, bards, people of obscure backgrounds -- it's a constant struggle for them to get even a single look at him here in Dragon Tan.
However, the handling of those unworthy of his time is left to subordinates even below Mortar. Naturally, they are turned away at the gate.
That is precisely why his presence here meant this matter was deemed highly important.
Who could it be?
Thinking back, he can't recall anyone of high importance currently seeking contact with him.
What name could possibly come from that mouth?
With a hint of excitement stirring in his chest, Takuto holds his breath as the name falls from the lips of the seasoned Dark Elf.
And then...
"Yes. That individual is clad in unfamiliar, strange attire, though their bearing is that of a first-rate warrior. And above all—they call themselves a hero."
A deep furrow formed between Takuto's brows.
In those words, Takuto felt the gears of fate turning at a speed beyond their imagination.